Friday, February 13, 2015

History: The Year is 1519

"Follow the flagship, and ask no questions!" The Magellan World Tour -- Magellan and the King of Portugal are fighting so at the last minute he takes his idea to the King of Spain and Magellan launches his circumnavigation of the globe.

Cortés Scuttles His Ships and Jump-starts His Career -- The Aztecs are going to get one in the shorts but not before Cortés sinks most of his ships... not burns... sinks. I also talk about the similarity in logic between God's will, survival of the fittest and Manifest Destiny.

The Need for Gun Safety Lessons Has Just Become Apparent -- This marks the first recorded accidental death by firearm. I provide a link to a video demonstration on how to fire a matchlock. Note the burn marks on the man's hand.

"Follow the flagship, and ask no questions!" The Magellan World Tour

It's time to "stick it" to the King of Portugal and write "PAID" to a
debt of honor. Having heard of Balboa's discovery of another ocean,
Ferdinand Magellan has been planning to circumnavigate the globe under
the flag of Portugal but at the last minute, because of a longtime
grudge, the King refuses to back the voyage. Magellan is a 37-year-old
man with his hair on fire to make this voyage so he gets backing from
the King of Spain [1]
and launches his fleet from Seville! His ships cross the Atlantic to
Rio de Janeiro to take on supplies and stay to observe the festival of
Christmas which lasts for several days. By early next year his ships
will take a short-cut through the strait that will one day bear his name
(the Strait of Magellan) and enter the Pacific Ocean.
[2][3]

My Take by Alex ShruggedHistorians
would love to know what grudge the King of Portugal had with Magellan.
They must have buried the hatchet to remain in each others company for
so long but they must have remembered where it was buried. Magellan had
been a page for the Queen though he was only 14 at the time, so
historians can only guess what it was about. Magellan was a fast talker
because the King of Spain jumped all over this project. Unfortunately,
Magellan is not going to make it home from this voyage. In the
Philippines he will get into the middle of a minor fight between native
tribes and get stabbed to death in a melee. [4]

Cortés Scuttles His Ships and Jump-starts His Career

Hernando Cortés is the son of a lesser noble. His chances of fame and
glory in Spain are remote so he has spent the last 15 years at
lower-level jobs in the New World until he uses a legal slight-of-hand
to jump-start his career. He was supposed to land troops on the Mexican
coast and colonize the interior, but his orders were revoked at the last
minute. Instead of returning, he scuttles his ships, explaining that
they are no longer seaworthy. Hernando wins election as the magistrate
of a local colony, organizes a new expedition into Mexico and asks the
King of Spain to co-sign this load of hooey (and includes a shipload of
treasure to help the King decide). Cortés will massacre thousands at
Cholula, so that by the time he reaches Tenochtitlan in November,
Moctezuma the 2nd simply lets the Spaniards into the city, but the
Aztecs are not conquered yet.
[5][6][7][8]

My Take by Alex Shrugged600
conquistadors cannot conquer an empire, yet that is what happened. How
could they see it as anything but God's own disapproval of pagan
sacrifice and approval of themselves as Crusaders? Darwinists use
similar logic, substituting "survival of the fittest" in place of God's
approval but it's the same thing. "If I can beat you up and take all
your stuff, it's because I was MEANT to beat you up and take all your
stuff." North American settlers did the same thing with Manifest
Destiny. Whether it is God's will, survival of the fittest, or "It's
just meant to be!" it's all the same to the poor sap getting the tar
beaten out him. [9]

The Need for Gun Safety Lessons Has Just Become Apparent

Peter Frenchman is demonstrating his gun prowess when a woman walks
in front of him just as he is firing. Apparently situational awareness
was at a minimum in the 1500s. This is the first recorded accidental
death by gunfire.
[10]

My Take by Alex ShruggedIt
sounds odd, but a matchlock musket can blind you when the powder from
the flash pan ignites. (That is... literally blind you for life.) Most
folks tend to hold the gun up higher and close their eyes before they
pull the trigger. Just a tip for the matchlock owners out there... both
of you. I've provided a link to a video demonstration on "How to Fire a
Matchlock". Note carefully the scars on the man's right hand. [11]